FOIA

49 Years Later, Nixon's Knowledge of Pinochet Coup Remains Secret

It is beyond time for the Biden Administration to declassify presidential records related to American operations in Chile around the overthrow of democratically elected President Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973.  

What I Learned About Governments from Researching Classified Documents

by Lawrence Wittner

Historians who have conducted research in classified materials understand how seriously governments take secrecy and how secrecy can conceal malfeasance or anti-democratic action. 

30-Year Flatline in NARA Budget Threatens Research, Transparency

Chronic underfunding, combined with successive administrations' disdain for transparency, means that Freedom of Information Act requests are likely to languish for years before being fulfilled. It's long overdue to fund the National Archives for the public good. 

National Security Archive Releases USCYBERCOM documents which shed new light on the campaign to counter ISIS in cyberspace

by Michael Martelle

New FOIA documents show challenges in operational synchronization, deconfliction, and inter-agency coordination.

After 3 Year FOIA Lawsuit, Washington Post Publishes Afghanistan Papers, A Secret History of the War

More than 2,000 pages of interviews and memos reveal a secret history of the war.

National Security Archive, SHAFR, and CREW Sue Pompeo, State Department over Failure to Create Records

by Lauren Harper and Tom Blanton

Evidence from the House’s impeachment inquiry, including from Ambassador William Taylor, the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine under the Trump administration, and from former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, all speak to a pattern and practice of bypassing official record-keeping procedures at the State Department.

Redacting Democracy

by Karen J. Greenberg

What You Can’t See Can Hurt You

The government effort to make FOIA “as bad as possible”

by Nate Jones

The Department of Justice's historical effort to weaken the Freedom Of Information Act and why Congress must strengthen the law. 

National Security Archive Sues Defense Information Agency for Able Archer 83 Document

by Nate Jones

The Archive filed suit after receiving no substantive response to the FOIA request for six months. 

National Security Archive Publishes New Declassified Documents on Dick Cheney

by Tom Blanton and Nate Jones

Oscar-worthy Documents on the Dark Side, from Cheyenne to Baghdad

The Freedom of Information Act is 50 years old

Fifty years ago on July 4, 1966, Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark Freedom of Information Act while vacationing at his Texas ranch. But he hated the concept.

Historian Nick Turse says the Pentagon has blacklisted him for making multiple FOIA requests

True, he admits, he did file a lot of requests. But there was a reason.

My losing battle to see the official papers of Sen. Joe McCarthy

by Alexis Coe

Congress isn’t covered by FOIA. It should be.

FOIA Documents Reveal Agent Orange Dioxin, Toxic Dumps, Fish Kills on Okinawa Base

Two Veterans Win Compensation, Many More Denied

Court Rejects Chiquita's Bid to Hide Terror Payment Records

U.S. Appeals Court Upholds National Security Archive Victory in Fruit Company's "Reverse-FOIA" Action

CIA employee terminated after using FOIA

His request set in motion a harrowing sequence.